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National

President Biden on Tuesday signed a bill codifying federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriage.

Why it matters: The Respect for Marriage Act, which the House passed last week, comes amid heightened concerns about the right to gay marriage following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Thousands of lawmakers and advocates attended the signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay.

Driving the news: Earlier this year, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe v. Wade, that the court should revisit several other landmark cases — including Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized gay marriage.

The new law ensures federal recognition of marriage regardless of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin and requires all states to recognize valid marriages conducted in places where they are legal, Axios' Shawna Chen reports.

It also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, which established a federal definition of marriage as a "legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife," but does not require states to allow same-sex marriage as is held under the 2015 Supreme Court decision Obergefell.

What they're saying: "Today is a good day," Biden said before signing the bill into law. "Today, America takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone. Toward creating a nation where decency, dignity, and love are recognized, honored and protected."

After Congress passed the law, Biden said: "On this day, Jill and I are thinking of the courageous couples and fiercely committed advocates who have fought for decades to secure nationwide marriage equality at the Supreme Court and in Congress."

"While we are one step closer on our long journey to build a more perfect union, we must never stop fighting for full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans and all Americans," he added.

State of play: The House voted 258-169 last week to pass the bill, sending it to Biden's desk for his signature.

Biden signs marriage equality bill into law

It ensures federal recognition of marriage regardless of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.

President Biden after signing the Respect for Marriage Act in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13.

President Biden after signing the Respect for Marriage Act in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Joe Biden

Politics & Policy

Macro

Axios Macro

There is more good news for an American consumer bedeviled by soaring prices, and policymakers racing to tame them: inflation slowed even further in November, the latest clue that the worst of it may be behind us.

The big picture: Similar optimism this summer was quickly crushed by subsequently higher inflation readings. But there are good reasons to believe this time really is different, with key inflation drivers — housing, goods and services — all pointing in a favorable direction.

Why it matters: The fate of the economy hangs largely on how inflation evolves. If it continues cooling without a drastic slowing of growth, a soft landing might be possible after all.

The Fed's policy meeting is likely to conclude with a half-percentage point rate hike announced Wednesday afternoon.

That's baked in, but the soft inflation data raises the odds that the central bank will conclude its rate-rising campaign at its next meeting seven weeks from now, perhaps with a mere quarter-point hike.

By the numbers: November's Consumer Price Index was up 7.1% over the last 12 months — the lowest since the end of 2021.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy, has risen at a 4.2% annual rate over the last three months. That's well below the recent peak of 7.9% registered in the spring.

Indeed, core prices rose only 0.2% in November, the lowest since August 2021. That works out to a 2.4% annual rate, which is consistent with the Fed's inflation target.

Details: Prices for physical goods are firmly in deflationary territory, a reversal of pandemic shortages.

Vehicles were a poster-child. Prices of used cars and trucks have declined for five consecutive months, and are down 3.3% in the 12 months that ended in November.

Goods with plunging prices also include furniture and bedding (-0.8% in November), laundry equipment (-2.7%) and tools and hardware (-0.8%).

There are positive trends in the services side of the economy, too — where consumers are increasingly shifting spending.

Shelter costs, a critical driver of inflation, slowed last month. Private-sector readings, however, show rent prices are falling, which will feed through to the official CPI reading in the coming months.

Price gains across other services, excluding shelter, were flat again. That's a sign that the strong labor market isn't yet causing prices to accelerate.

What they're saying: "Another downside inflation surprise not only validates a Fed decision to slow the pace of rate hikes, it also raises hopes that the inflation surge may actually be tamed within the next 12 months," Principal Asset Management's Seema Shah wrote in a note.

The bottom line: For the last 18 months, inflation has acted like the villain in a horror movie, re-appearing every time you think it might be dead. 

That could happen yet again — but November's CPI is the best evidence to date that the movie is finally near its end.

Why America's inflation cooldown might be here to stay

Key inflation drivers — housing, goods and services — are all pointing in a favorable direction.

Illustration of a stack of frozen dollar bills with snowcaps.

Inflation

Stock market

Jobs

Federal Reserve

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Science

Axios Science

A federal fusion energy reactor has achieved a crucial goal for the first time: producing more energy than required to start the reaction in the first place, Department of Energy officials announced at a press conference Tuesday.

Why it matters: Scientists have worked for six decades to develop nuclear fusion as a source of effectively limitless clean energy. Ignition is a key milestone in harnessing nuclear fusion, but turning it into a commercial power supply would require clearing additional scientific, technical and financial hurdles.

"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's national nuclear security administrator.

Driving the news: On Dec. 5, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved "ignition," in which a fuel is ignited and can keep burning on its own.

The key consequence: The reaction's output is more energy than what is input.

"Ignition is a first step, a truly monumental one that sets the stage for a transformational decade and high energy density science and fusion research," LLNL Director Kim Budil said.

The press conference offered details about the experiment, which the Energy Department is calling a "breakthrough" and was first reported in a scoop this weekend from the Financial Times.

How it works: The fuel for NIF is made up of deuterium and tritium inside a polished diamond spherical capsule that is placed in a hollow container.

192 high-energy lasers converge on the capsule, compressing the fuel and, for a moment, simulating the conditions inside a star.

The researchers report producing just over 3 MJ of energy after putting in 2 MJ. 

It is "a scientific milestone ... and also an engineering marvel beyond belief," U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy director Arati Prabhakar said.

But, but, but... The lasers used are the most energetic in the world and require about 300 MJ to operate. "The laser wasn't designed to be efficient. The laser was designed to give us as much juice as possible to make these incredible conditions possible happen basically in the laboratory," Mark Herrmann of LLNL said.

There are still key scientific, technical and financial hurdles to clear in commercializing the technology.

Those include: "[C]an we make it simpler? Can we begin to make this process easier and more repeatable? Can we begin to do it more than one time a day? Can we start working toward recreating each of these is an incredible scientific and engineering challenge for us?" Budil said.

Go deeper: Physicists report first creation of self-heating plasma for nuclear fusion (Axios)

Nuclear fusion technology passes key milestone

Scientists have worked for six decades to develop nuclear fusion as a source of effectively limitless clean energy.

Inside a support structure at NIF. Researchers there this week reported creating a self-heating plasma for the first time in a laboratory. Photo: Damien Johnson

Inside a support structure at NIF. Photo: Damien Johnson/Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Nuclear fusion

News and analysis of the scientific advances fueling AI and quantum computing, revolutionizing biology and medicine, and tackling climate change. Science is changing the world and colliding with the global politics that shape it.

Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

Energy & Climate

Pro Rata

Axios Pro Rata

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, campaign finance law violations and money laundering.

Driving the news: The disgraced crypto wunderkind was arrested Monday by police in the Bahamas and is expected to be extradited to the U.S.

This follows a civil complaint from the SEC, filed earlier Tuesday, accusing Bankman-Fried of defrauding FTX investors.

His attorney tells Axios, via an emailed statement: "Mr. Bankman-Fried is reviewing the charges with his legal team and considering all of his legal options."

Capitol Hill: Bankman-Fried had been scheduled to testify virtually at a House Financial Services Committee today, but now the only witness will be current FTX CEO and restructuring expert John Ray.

It would have been an irresistible chance for House members to grandstand, which is gone with SBF in custody. But it's still a bipartisan opportunity to go after SEC chair Gary Gensler, who wasn't invited to testify.

Gensler has told Congress that he has adequate tools to regulate cryptocurrencies, which is arguably belied by the SEC's own lawsuit.

Expect members to ask FTX CEO John Ray if he agrees with Gensler's assessment of the SEC's oversight, given that it took Ray just a few days to determine that FTX was a house of cards.

Timing: Already there are questions about why prosecutors preempted SBF from testifying under oath in Congress, ginning up new conspiracy theories from the same folks who said SBF's political donations would prevent him from being arrested in the first place.

A source familiar with the SDNY, who doesn't have insight into this specific case, says that there could have been exigent circumstances such as money movement or fears that SBF was about to flee to a jurisdiction where the U.S. doesn't have an extradition treaty.

It's also possible there were concerns that SBF testifying on Capitol Hill would further pollute the jury pool, or that the indictment was actually returned days (or weeks) ago but it took time for Bahamas police to act.

Sam Bankman-Fried indictment

Sam Bankman-Fried charged with criminal fraud and money laundering

He was arrested Monday by Bahamas police and is expected to be extradited to the U.S.

Illustration of a crypto block that gets covered in jail bars.

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

Media Deals

Films with the highest all-time worldwide box office grosses

The highly anticipated Avatar sequel "The Way of Water" is expected to dominate this week's box office when it hits theaters on Friday, 13 years after the original James Cameron Avatar film first debuted in December 2009. 

Why it matters: The new film "is under tremendous pressure to deliver the goods, reinvigorate late-year moviegoing, and give Cameron the de facto green light for the future planned installments of this mega-high profile movie brand," said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. 

Cameron has planned as many as three additional sequels, but he admitted that the franchise's success will be determined by the performance of "The Way of Water."

Details: The Disney movie is expected to bring in over $150 million+ domestically this weekend, per Dergarabedian, which would give it one of the best-performing weekend openers this year. 

So far in 2022, only "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" — both Disney Marvel hits — have surpassed $150 million in their domestic box office debuts. 

"This is exactly the kind of movie that demands to be seen in a theater with a communal experience," said Boxoffice Pro analyst Shawn Robbins.

Yes, but: The new Avatar film, which runs over three hours long, may not see late-night shows book up as quickly, Dergarabedian warned. 

There's little competition heading into the holiday season. The third installation of Disney's "Ant-Man" doesn't debut until February. 

Be smart: Unlike most Marvel films over the past two years, Avatar has had a Chinese debut date the same day it premiers domestically. 

Not only is overseas viewership expected to soar due to availability in China, but it will also be a boon to high-margin Imax and 3D ticket sales. 

The first "Avatar" grossed more than $200 million in China and counting, per Box Office Mojo. The film was recently brought back in Chinese theaters ahead of the sequel's release.

Flashback: The original "Avatar" briefly ushered in a wave of 3D moviegoing when it premiered in 2009, though 3D failed to catch on due to the poor quality of other films that added the capability after they were already completed.

That film brought in $264 million in Imax ticket sales, including $6 million during its rerelease in September this year. It is the only film to cross $250 million in Imax history. 

All eyes on Avatar to save struggling box office

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is expected to dominate this week's box office.

Axios

Tuesday's top stories

Biden signs marriage equality bill into law

Why America's inflation cooldown might be here to stay

Nuclear fusion technology passes key milestone

Sam Bankman-Fried charged with criminal fraud and money laundering

All eyes on Avatar to save struggling box office

Sam Bankman-Fried accused of fraud by SEC

The rise of "skyvertising"

The Moon is back within reach

Exclusive: Bari Weiss reveals business plan for buzzy new media startup

Twitter disbands Trust and Safety Council

Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas

The RNC's lopsided power struggle